CHAPTER X. 



On the 15th of April we left Mexico, by train, for Ame- 

 cameca, from there to make the ascent of the volcano of Popo- 

 catepetl. After leaving the city, the road skirted :;he LaVega 

 canal, and soon struck across the plain bordering lakes Tex- 

 coco and Ghalco. We soon passed the former on the left, 

 and the latter on the right, and then encountered an up- 

 ward grade at the base of the mountains. Several stops 

 were made at pretty villages. At one of these villages we 

 were beseiged by a multitude of beggars, the pest of Mexi- 

 co. At five o'clock in the afternoon we reached Ameca- 

 nieca. This is a town of ten thousand inhabitants, situated 

 about 7,000 feet above the sea. In the center of the town 

 was the plaza, where a low, circular wall of stone enclosed 

 a small space, planted with flowers, a basin filled with 

 water flowing from a fountain in the center, and a few white 

 stone pillars supported a capital, which formed the en- 

 trance. Above these, and shading the garden, drooped a 

 number of green willows. The square surrounding this bit 

 of verdure was large, bounded on the west side, next the 

 railroad, by the Casa Municipal, and on the east by the 

 Cathedral, a large and well-preserved building. The streets 

 of the town diverged from this center, lined with low houses 

 of stone and adobe, of which the latter predominated, 

 roofed with rough shingles, spiked on with long wooden 

 pegs. Water from the mountains ran in little streams 

 through the streets, and was diverted by small gutters to 

 the houses for private use. 



The view of the two mountains from this town was 

 grand, late in the afternoon. To the right and left, as far 

 as the eye could reach, extended the mountain chain, and 



